Minimum manifester level to manifest 20 pp => level 20.
Manifester level is 20.
But honestly, I wouldn't allow Linked Power as a [Metapsionic] feat. It should just be a [Psionic] feat -- expend focus, get "delay power".
The various cost-reduction abuses and level-ambiguity would be eliminated, while the core functionality would be expanded.
Unfortunately, I cannot change the RAW to suit my desires.
By RAW, Linked is metapsionic, like it or not.
And knowing just the ML level isn't enough, since it must be multiplied by the PL.
So if I use PL 1, it is PL 1x20?
Or is it PL 1 x ML 1 + ML 19 x PL 9?
I am assuming it is the later, because having investigated the pricing of Candle Caster Candles, when it comes to pricing the candles, you compute the items separately and add them.
But this is only the cost of creation.
Unfortunately, I do not believe that the candles follow the same rules for retail purposes. Alas, being a 3.0 PrC, it does not give the retail cost, but the creation cost. All other 3.5 items use the retail cost as the base for the GP and XP cost. One cannot simply multiple the base cost by 2 when it comes to caster candles, because if a Scribed Candle is basically a Scroll as a candle, then a Scribed Dipped Stripped candle, which is three spells in one candle, is the same value as the three spells as scrolls. Which is insane.
Who would not buy a few dozen candles that store three spells at once at the same cost as the scrolls individually.
Extrapolating what it would cost to make these same items as wondrous item, the pricing would be X1 for the scribed scroll itself, x1.5 for the Dipped, and x2 for the striped, if one follows the rules for adding additional powers to a single magic item. The x2 is quite clear from the DMG when you look at the striped candle converted to a wondrous item, so one assumes that the intermediate (dipped) would be 1.5.
Now, of course, this is only affects the retail cost of the dipped candle. The cost of creation would be unaffected, seeing that creating candles is a class feature, and thus it gets to ignore the usual rules for item creation. Regardless, I need to include some sort of interpretation for the sake of completeness.
I wanted to get people's opinions on the matter before I made a judgement call. I am going to assume that if you translate linked into a wondrous item version of a powerstone and use the additional powers rules from the DMG, then the more expensive of the two powers would be at an additional x1.5 cost to retail. However, unlike candle caster, the creator would NOT have the discount that candle caster enjoys for creating candles. Point being, imprint stone is an item creation feat, and candle creation is a varient of Scribe Scroll and Brew Potion (for unfettered), and while it is "Effectively" brew potion for intents and purposes, it is not brew potion for the sake of being a feat. It is a class feature.
You may be wonder why one should care.
Because Candle caster (being looked at the party erudite) is technically worded to actually increase the manifester level of the erudite, the way it is worded (I use magic/psionic transparency)
Specially, I expect at some point, using this little gem:
CHAMELEON CRAFTING [ITEM CREATION]
- DRAGON #349 (3.5)
You can craft magic items that can duplicate psionic powers, or psionic items that duplicate magic powers.
Prerequisite: Any one item creation feat, ability to cast 1st-level spells, ability to manifest 1st-level powers.
Benefit: You can place any spell or a power that you know into any items you create. The item crafted determines if the effect is magical or psionic. The XP cost for an item created with this feat equals 1.5 times the item's standard XP cost.
Example: A psion/sorcerer with the Imprint Stone feat could create a psionic shocking grasp stone. Likewise, if the same character had the Brew Potion feat, she could create a magic potion of my light.
I can look forward to a Scribed (two spells linked), Dipped (Two Spells Linked), Striped (Two Spells Linked) candle that allows him to basically get off celerity 6 times in one round.
While most people must deal with the one round delay, quick light allows the candle caster to get away with same round activation. So, he's get 4 extra actions round one, and 2 extra round two, which with the penalties to celerity, he may not wish to do that. I have made it quite clear that if you DO manage to get off multiple celerity, you will pay the cost sequentially, not concurrently. So, He'll get off 6 actions, then basically slow to a crawl. Yes, there are ways to undo conditions, He will have to do it for every single time. It will more than likely cost him his 2 one round delayed extra actions. We are still arguing over the math.
Note, he is also looking at War weaver, which I have rules psionics does not work over, but currently we are arguing about "does linked allow him to add a power to a spell that is hung in the war weaver web?" He has made a good case and I am thinking of allowing it. On the other hand, he's an erudite, spell transparency, yada yada. I may just let him use psionics over it anyways, just to see how much he can abuse the rules. Would make for an interesting case study.
BTW, Discovering Erudites kinda suck. Yes, it looks amazing, but in practice, they are a bitch, even if you play in a Magic Mart world. At low levels, even with getting around the uses per day limitations using scroll and power stone attunement, The player was actually forced to fall back on wands quite frequently. And that whole "XP is a river" thing apparently is quite shallow when it comes to Erudites. I think the player has been consistently 2 levels behind everyone else for months now.
I have rambled enough. I think I will be going with x1.5 retail cost for the more expensive of the two powers, if linked together. It is the cost for making two spells in such a fashion using wondrous item, so it's consistent. I could make a case for x2 and x3 however.
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Now here:
ADDING NEW ABILITIES
A creator can add new magical abilities to a magic item with no restrictions. The cost to do this is the same as if the item was not magical. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal long- sword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal sword minus the cost of a +1 sword.
If the item is one that occupies a specific place on a character’s body (see Magic Items on the Body, page 214), the cost of adding any additional ability to that item increases by 50%. For example, if a character adds the power to confer invisibility to her ring of protec- tion +2, the cost of adding this ability is the same as for creating a ring of invisibility multiplied by 1.5.
You would think it would be x1.5 for the second spell. Then the third spell, being a spell on top of a spell (following additive multipliers rules) would be 1.5 + .5 or x2.
However under the chart:
Multiple different abilities: Multiply higher item cost by 2.
So, one could argue, it's lowest costing spell x1, second most expensive spell x2, and then the third, being a spell on a spell, is x3.
However, I figured I was already boning anyone who wanted to buy a Candle (Scroll/Potion) with x1.5/x2 when you got the combination, the (x2/x3) seemed over kill.
Or I could just make it a flat x2, x2, but I figured that since one comes with a 1 round delay, on top of the one round delay for a basic scribed candle (Scribed Dipped, to be exact), and stripped has NO round delay for the second spell, X1.5/x2 for dipped/striped seemed fair and consistent with RAW as close as I can determine.
And since linked follows the one round delay of the Scribed Dipped candle, it seems to be close enough for government work. Of course that would mean:
Scribed (x1) Linked (x1.5)
Dipped (x1.5) Linked (x2)
Striped (x2) Linked (x2.5)
Since multipliers are additive. The other way would be
Scribed (x1) Linked (x2)
Dipped (x2) Linked (x3)
Striped (x3) Linked (x4)
Which, would be multiplied by x1.5 over all, because of the Chameleon Crafting cost of using metapsionics on spells manifested in a scroll variant.